Source: Tribunist

McDonald’s employees are instructed to comply with the demands of robbers. The corporate office feels it is the best way to ensure the safety of their workers. The customers who frequent these establishments aren’t always as keen to knuckle under to the demands of criminals, especially when those criminals come in shooting.

That’s what happened Saturday night in a McDonald’s in Birmingham, Alabama. As the employees were closing up, and the last customers were leaving, a masked gunman entered and began firing a rifle.

The employees ran. Some hid in the freezer, fearing for their lives.

One customer, though, was also armed. When the masked man began shooting, the dad pulled his pistol and returned fire. The customer had his two sons with him.

One of the teenagers was wounded. It is believed that he was hit in the exchange of gunfire, but he’s in stable condition and expected to recover. The customer was also hit. He, too, is recovering from his wounds.

The gunman wasn’t as lucky. The customer shot him and the man died from the wound.

Markus Washington, one of the McDonald’s employees, told reporters he was making “two quarter-pounders” when he heard the shots. Washington ran to the freezer.

“I’m feeling grateful,” he said. “Wrapping my head around it all, I was just wishing someone would come wake me up from this nightmare.”

“All we hear is like different gunfire, so in my mind, I’m imagining everybody is dead. He’s looking for us,” he said. Washington added he was thankful the armed customer was there.”

“Wrapping my head around it all, I was just wishing someone would come wake me up from this nightmare.”

“He’s my hero. Because I can only imagine how it would’ve went if he wasn’t armed. We might not be here having this interview,” Washington said.

“Things like this are difficult for both families. The gentleman who unfortunately lost his life, the teenage boy who is in the hospital recovering from his injuries and the father who is also recovering from his injuries,” Birmingham police spokesman Sgt. Bryan Shelton said. “It’s not easy being a father and watching your child get injured, get hurt like that. It’s a really heartwrenching experience.”

“It’s really sad an otherwise positive day had an ending like this,” Shelton said. “Earlier we had such a spirit of celebration in the city because of the events going on and now families are having to deal with the tragedy of loved ones who are hurt or killed.”

“It’s truly said, but it’s something as a community we can overcome,” he said. “We just have to work together to find a solution to our issues without resorting to violence.”

“Right now it appears the victim made a decision that cost his life and the father made a decision that preserved his and children’s’ life.”